


A Night in Photographs

by Toppbanana



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Happy, Kissing, Photographs, Victorian ball
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-09 16:44:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4356722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toppbanana/pseuds/Toppbanana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A picture is worth a thousand words, but a kiss is worth so much more.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Night in Photographs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [LicieOIC](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LicieOIC/gifts).



> A very happy birthday to the unbeliebably woderful LicieOIC! I hope you enjoy!

           

He was caught off guard. Twice. Twice before even departing. Twice before even leaving her flat.

The Doctor re-entered Jackie’s flat after she had forced him to dress up like Rose was currently doing. Apparently, a timeless suit like his wasn’t actually timeless, according to Jackie Tyler (it was actually timeless, thank you very much).

“I thought I told you to go change?” Jackie said as he walked in the door. Her hands were not on her hips (or connecting with his cheek), but rather behind her back. He would take that is a win.

“I changed my tie,” the Doctor said, affronted.

Jackie looked like she may retort, but the sound of heels clicking down the hallway stopped her.

The moment Rose stepped around the corner, nothing else mattered. She had donned a stunning gold gown with white lace accents. Her hair was elegantly curled and gathered up at the sides where a bunch of ruby coloured roses were pinned. She wore very little make-up, save for the pink tinting her cheeks that only seemed to deepen at the sight of him staring.

Oh stars, he was staring. Staring and grinning so widely he was sure his face would split. Rose was also staring, and though her smile wasn’t quite as manic as his, the softness of hers and the emotion behind her eyes said it all. He needed to say something. Anything.

“Blimey, you look beautiful,” he breathed, an echo from what was literally a lifetime ago.

“For a human, you mean?” Rose asked, a bit bashful. She was also probably remembering the last time he said those words. He wondered if she knew how badly he cocked up that last time too.

“For a human, for a Time Lord, for a Veela, for a-“ he started to ramble.

The sudden flash and shutter of a camera jolted them out of whatever little world they were in. Rubbing the black spots from his eyes, the Doctor noticed the photographer was none other than Jackie Tyler with a devious little smirk on her face.

“All right mum, I think it’s time we be going. Don’t want to be late and all that,” Rose said quickly. She rushed over to the Doctor and placed a gloved hand on his arm to steer him out of the flat. There was a dainty silk fan hanging from her wrist. The heat from her hand managed to seep through the several layers between their skin. Skin to skin contact, now that sounded like a much better idea.

“You live in a bloody time machine, there no such thing as being late. Isn’t that what you always tell me?” Jackie countered.

“Mum!”

“Oh all right,” Jackie conceded. “But take this with you, I want some memories of my daughter dressed all posh at a Victorian ball!”

“You know we can’t take camera’s like that into the past, Mum. Wouldn’t want to start a paradox.”

“But you’re all done up like Cinderella, and I want to be able to see and remember it,” Jackie pouted.

“I have a camera on the TARDIS that we could use,” the Doctor suggested with a not so indifferent shrug. There was no way he would ever forget a night like this, or any moment with Rose for that matter, but he wouldn’t mind a few photographs of Rose, or maybe even him and Rose. Together. This led to thoughts of other things he and Rose could do together, nice things, things involving their lips together, or maybe even other body parts together.

“Hello? Rose to Doctor? Anyone home in that big Time Lordy brain of yours?” Rose’s voice brought him back from his wayward thinking.

“Sorry?”

“I said, shall we be off, Sir Doctor?” Rose giggled.

“Right! Yes! Off we go, Dame Rose! See you later, Jackie,” the Doctor grinned, allowing Rose to loop her arm through his.

Jackie gave Rose a peck on the cheek, and then did the same to his (much to his horror) before ushering them out the door.

“She’s right you know,” the Doctor murmured as they walked to the TARDIS.

“Hang on you’re agreeing with my Mum? Should I go back and fetch her? She’d love to hear this,” Rose joked.

The Doctor smiled softly, but pressed on, his voice quiet and uncharacteristically shy. “You’re prettier than Cinderella going to the ball.”

“I guess that would make her my fairy godmother, than. Oh, and the TARDIS. Wouldn’t be able to achieve this whole look if it weren’t for them.” If she caught on to his sudden hesitancy, she didn’t let on

The Doctor knew it wasn’t the dress or the hair that made her beautiful; she never needed any of that. Everywhere they went heads turned to look at her and they all soon fell in love with her. He was no different. But he was also a coward.

“And does that make me the lizard turned coachman of your carriage, my Lady?”

“Nah, I don’t think my carriage needs a coachman,” Rose laughed and keyed open the blue doors to their ship. The Doctor couldn’t help but agree with her as the TARDIS joined in laughing in the back of his mind.

“Besides,” Rose continued. “You’re much better than a lizard turned coachman.” He couldn’t help the heat that rose to his cheeks.

Later at the ball, the Doctor fought down his jealousy with a huge stick with each passing male requesting Rose’s hand for a dance. However, Rose kept politely turning them down. Part of him cheered.

By the time the ball was coming to an end, Rose had not danced once, and the Doctor couldn’t help but feel like she hadn’t enjoyed herself. That maybe he should get his jealousy in check, after all, she wasn’t even rightfully his to begin with. He looked over to see Rose chatting animatedly with a young woman named Sally, both of them giggling behind their fans. He couldn’t help the small smile of affection that graced his face when she looked up at him and grinned coyly behind her half-opened fan.

“Would you and your wife like a photograph?” an elderly man asked the Doctor.

“Oh, she’s not my wife. We’re just friends,” the Doctor replied absentmindedly as he watched Rose and Sally continue to toy with their fans.

“Oh my mistake, enjoy your night, sir,” the man replied. His voice was kind, but sceptical.

Suddenly the Doctor remembered the camera he had in his pocket.

“Hang on a tick!” the Doctor called after the photographer.

 

Back on the TARDIS with a handful of developed photos, thanks to the Doctor’s slightly modern camera, Rose began to rifle through the images while the Doctor sent them into the Vortex.

“Oh Mum is going to love these!” Rose gushed. “But there are a few of these I think I’m going to keep, like this one, for example.”

The Doctor turned around to see his own beaming face staring back at him, his eyes brimming with all of the words and emotions he felt every time he looked at Rose, all of the words and emotions he would carefully tuck behind a mask of adventure and excitability, words and emotions couldn’t bring himself to say out loud.

“Is that the photo your mother took?” he squeaked when he found his voice again.

“The very same! I just love the way your eyes are lit up. It’s like that look you get in your eye at the start of a new adventure, but there’s something more to it. An extra sparkle, perhaps,” she smiled softly to herself while looking intently at the picture. “Though I think the colouring from the other photos somehow attached itself to this one and turned it sort of brown. But I kinda like it. Fits in with the other photos.”

The Doctor knew she was speaking, he heard her words, knew that her sentence drifted off, but he stopped really listening after she mentioned how his eyes lit up. Did she know that her eyes also lit up like the stars they so often gazed at? No, her eyes shone brighter than the stars in any universe.

“C’mere,” he said quietly. Rose carefully set the photos down on the jump seat and then stood in front of him.

“Yes, Doctor?”

 _You’re beautiful. You make me whole. I love you…_ Coward.

“It’s just…I just…”

“Doctor, is everything all right?” Rose had must have taken off her gloves, for when she placed her hand on his lapel, her hand was bare. He hoped she couldn’t feel his hearts taking flight in his chest.

“I just think it’s only fair for me to have a photo of just you. You have one of me, after all,” admittedly, not his best deflection. And he knew the Rose saw right through it, as usual.

“But-“

“Oh no you don’t Rose Tyler!” the Doctor brought the camera up to his eye. “Go on than, give us a smile.” Rose laughed and managed to give him what looked more like a snarl than a smile. He clicked the shutter button.

“I will treasure this always. Rose Tyler at her finest,” he joked.

Rose playfully swatted at his shoulder then returned to the pile of photos from the ball. He thought about capturing a photo of the way she smiled fondly down at the images in her hand, but as he brought the camera back up, her brow furrowed.

“When was this one taken?” she asked.

The Doctor looked down at the photo in question and found he didn’t remember it being taken either. Rose had hidden her mouth behind her half-open fan, but it was still very clear she was smiling. He was also smiling along with her, but they weren’t looking at the camera. They were both sneaking a glance at each other. The Doctor couldn’t help the sudden smile that bloomed on his face. When he looked down, he noticed Rose had looked up, a shy smile painting her own lips.

In a bold move, the Doctor took another picture.

Rose gave little to no warning before she pounced. The force of her body sent both of them backwards into the console as she reached for the camera still clutched in his hands. Before he knew it, he was hovering over her on the jump seat, his fingers moving wildly across her ribs while she laughed breathlessly beneath him. The camera lay forgotten on the grating.

When they were both breathless from laughter, the Doctor stilled his tickling, and swept the wisps of Rose’s hair off her face that had come loose from her up-do.

“Did you have fun tonight?” the Doctor asked, his voice coming out a little huskier than he’d planned.

“I did, thank you,” Rose grinned softly.

“But you didn’t get the chance to dance at all. I know how excited you get about-“ Rose silenced him with a finger to his mouth.

“I didn’t want to dance with any of them,” she replied quietly, averting her eyes.

“But-“

“You. I wanted to dance with you. Only you. Always you.”

With that, the Doctor’s lips found hers. He moved them gently against hers. They were warm, and plush, and currently still. He pulled back and saw Rose laying beneath him with wide eyes.

“Rose, I’m sorry…I thought…I didn’t mean…I’m so…” Again, Rose’s fingers covered his lips that still tingled and tasted of her.

“Shut up and just kiss me again,” she breathed, pulling him down by the lapels until their mouths met again.

 


End file.
